Women in The Necklace and The Story of an Hour Essay

To both women in The Necklace and The Story of The Hour, their perception in their life is their reality. Both Mathilde and Mrs. Mallard want something more than what they have in their life. But many times, this causes one to lose something in their life they have already been blessed with and arent aware of the blessing until it is already gone. The characters, symbolic settings, and resolutions of the plots used by the authors portray the unhappiness that each woman carries in her heart and in their life.

Bitterness of the heart lies in both Mathilde of The Necklace and Mrs. Mallard of The Story of The Hour. Mathildes bitterness brings her only ten years of bondage, while Mrs. Mallards bitterness brings her to her death. Mathilde has very little when it comes to material things, but she does have a husband who loves her very much and would do anything to give her the world. But because of her desire for the much finer things in life, her hatred and bitterness of her social status, and her prideful heart, she causes her husband to fall into a tremendous amount of debt to replace a lost necklace that is believed to be worth much more than it really is worth, and they live in bondage for ten years until the debts are repaid in full. In the end, she realizes that her pride and bitterness have caused her more pain than any lack of material things in her life. She could have had a beautiful life as a middle class woman if not for her prideful heart. Mrs. Mallard lives the high class life and has all of the finer things that Mathilde has only dreamed of. Yet, she desires nothing more than to be free from her life, her surroundings, and her husband. She longs to be on her own, as a single woman, regardless of what that may look like for her. Her husband is gone most of the time working, so that she can have all of these things that her heart does not desire. With the news of the death of her husband, she finds the freedom she has longed for, for so long. With the life of her husband, she realizes she is no longer free, and she inherits her death.

The settings of both The Necklace and The Story of The Hour prove that the surroundings of both women mean nothing when the bitterness they feel lies within the heart. The small apartment that Mathilde and her husband live in is less than desirable to her. She finds herself daydreaming of a big house and a closet full of fine clothing and jewelry. She then snaps back into reality to the same old, dreary rags and an empty jewelry box. She lives in a daydream, and feels like the reality of her life is a nightmare. Her perception is that her friend is very well off and has many fine, expensive pieces to fill her closet and jewelry box. And in reality, the necklace she borrows from this friend is a cheap piece of costume jewelry. Most, if not all of her jewelry is probably costume jewelry. But to Mathilde, her perception is reality until her reality reveals the truth of the necklace. Mrs. Mallard lives in a beautiful two story home, wears the finest of fine clothes, and the most beautiful jewelry. She has all of the fine things that Mathilde has only dreamed of. Yet, Mrs. Mallard stands alone, staring out of her upstairs bedroom window, as she daydreams of a time when she will be free of her surroundings and her husband.

Mathildes tale ends with the reality of what her pride and her longing of finer things has made her lose, which was ten long years of her life. Mrs. Mallards longing of her heart to be free from these finer things and from her husband brings her to her death at the end of the tale. After losing the necklace Mathilde borrowed from her supposedly rich friend, her husband borrows a lot of money to replace the lost necklace before her friend finds out. They spend ten long years together, slaving and working to repay the banks and loan sharks. The irony of this, is that she found out after the debt was paid off that the necklace she lost and was to prideful to admit this to her friend, was actually a cheap piece of costume jewelry that was worth next to nothing. Mrs. Mallard is told of her husbands death, and surprisingly, her heart problems seem to disappear. She was almost happy to learn of his death and was at last, free from her life with him. When she finds out that the news was a mistake as she sees her husband walk through the door and to the bottom of the stairs, her heart problems return and bring her to her fatal death.

To each individual, their perception in life becomes their reality. However, what both of these women had perceived as reality caused them nothing but pain and the loss of life. Mathilde lost ten years of her life, and unfortunately, Mrs. Mallard lost her life completely. We each want something more than what we already have. And sometimes that means losing what we do have, and then realizing that we cannot get it back.